Needle threader



NEEDLE THREADER Filed Jan. 3, 1951` m* FM fit-torn 1 ys.

A. PRET/caws 2,656,080

Patented Oct. 20, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Albertus Pretorius, Pretoria, Transvaal, Union of South Africa Application January 3, 1951, Serial No. 204,119 In the Union of South Africa January 5, 1950 This invention relatesy yto a device to facilitate the threading of needles of the kind used for sewing either by machine or by hand. It 1s welllknown that in the case of needles having a small eye threadin-g often presents diilic'ultie's particularly if the eye sight 'of the user is not 1as goed as it might be.

An object of the present invention `is to provide a small -compact device by means of which ordinary needles may be threaded rapidly and without difficulty. A further object is to prov1de a 'device of robust vconstruction vnot liable to become deranged and yet relatively inexpensive to make -in quantity.

According to the invention there is provided a device for the purpose set forth comprising a strip, wire or like member of a form bilfurcated towards one end into resiliently separated hmbs and over the other vend of which the eye of the needle may be passed and removed from the bifurcated end, a body in which `said member is loosely encaged against removal, and which is provided with a lateral aperture following the general form of said bifurcated member and means for guiding the needle eye thereover and from end to end of said aperture, a Ifurther aperture in said body enabling the thread to be admitted into the -bifurcation of said member to be gripped between the said lim-bs whilst the needle veye is passed thereover, and means for retaining the thread thus passed through the needle until the latter leaves or .is about` to leave the bod The ssaid member may be encaged in the body in a -generally hairpin bendV shape withv portions of said limbs resiliently held together and the said other end exposed in said aperture ffor easy acceptance into the needle eye yapplied thereto, the `said further aperture :extending into the body to a region opposite to said resiliently heldy portions of the bifurcated member limbs 'for the gripping of the thread. Y

The said limbs of said member may be of unequal lengths, one extending further towards the adjacent end ofthe rst mentioned aperture than does the other and executing an S-like curve so designed as when traversed by the needle eye to release the grip of said limbs upon the thread and Yfacilitate its being withdrawn from the body after the 4needle has passed over itMeans may be provided for catching the loop of thread from vthe eye lci the needle before 'the latter leaves the said body, such for instance, as hook or like means at an appropriate region or `regions of the body and/or one of the limbs aforesaid beyond the region thereof into which the thread is admissible.

6 Claims. (Cl. 223-99) The invention further comprises the specific construction of needle-threading device and its modications 'as hereinafter indicated.

The appended sheet of drawings illustrates the present preferred construction of the device, and in these drawings, which are to a substantially enlarged scale compared with the actual device which may be of substantially no greater bulk than enables it tobe held easily between the iinvgers of one hand whilst the other hand is used for applying the thread and passing the needle over it:

Figure l is an elevation of the device as it appears Ifor example when held at region a: between thumb and forelinger of the left hand;

Figure 2 vis a sectional view, or view with -a front lamination removed;

Figure 3 is a cross section on the line and in the direction of varrows III- III of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a side view of the 'aforesaid bifurcated member in relaxed condition, i. e. removed from the body of the device.

Referring to the drawings, the body is formed from any suitable material, e. g. metal or one of the so called plastics in three laminations I, 2 and 3 and the central one of these provides a Ichamber 2a in which a spring steel or like member 4 is encaged after resilient deformation from its relaxed form shown in Figure 4.

Member 4 is bent to the form shown, Efrom springy steel ribbon of a -ne enough gauge and width that the eye of a needle may pass over it from the closed end l5 which is suitably pointed, the limbs '5a and v6 closing resiliently together to allow of this movement of the needle, 'and the needle ilnally leaving the longer limb `at 8 a-fter traversing the S-shaped portion I.

In position in the body chamber the member 4 presents end 5 somewhat beyond of the edge face 9 of lamination 2 so that when the eye end of the needle is applied endwise against face III of lamination 3 and slid towards the right hand side of the drawings, the eye aperture is readily passed over the end 5. Surfaces 9 and I0 turn into the first curved portion I I of the chiamber and follow the -generally hairpin :curve I2 shown. The lamination I is apertured as at I4- to allow t-he neck of the needle then to rtraverse the bodyA aperture and leave it at opening I3, lthe surface IIJ and its continuation to I-Ila forming a continuous floor for guidance 'of the needle eye throughout its passage over 'the member 4 and out at I3. ESurface I0 and its continuation to Illa are preferably -of shallow groove form as shown in Figure 3, assisting the guidance of the needle eye.

The member 4 bein-g for fa substantial part of its length exposed through aperture I4, and only limbs ya and IIi, including portion 1, covered by the lamination I, in order to prevent inadvertent 'extraction of the member 4 from the body as the needle is traversin-g it, la small lobed or equivalent, e. g. pointed star Wheel I5 lfreely pivoted at I5a in parts I Aand v2 as shown is accommodated in a pocket I5b to overlap the member 4 at both sides of the curved portion I2. The lobes or points yield freely as gates to the passage of the needle eye over the member 4.

In the part 3 of the body a straight, slit-like aperture I6 extends along one edge of the grooved surface a (and therefore out of line with the opposed aperture I4) from adjacent the opening I3 to just short of opposite to the wheel pivot I5a, so that a thread (stretched in a direction through the plane of Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings) may be entered at I3 and passed into the bight between portions 5a, and 6 of the mem-.- ber 4, which portions are resiliently gripped t0- gether as shown in Figures 1 and 2. By this means the thread is held whilst the eye of the needle passes over it and a loop remains thus gripped. Just after this point the tail portion 6a of limb 6 is contracted by the eye on to the S- portion 'I causing parts 5a and 6 to spring apart behind the eye to release the thread loop which can then move towards the end I3. Whilst 4the needle can then be withdrawn the thread loop following it catches hookwise on the point of a small fixed finger piece I1 which projects into the path necessarily taken by the thread in following the needle. Thus caught, the loop may be drawn to any length convenient to the user and if desired until the free or short end of thread leaves the eye and escapes; the needle then being properly threaded for use.

4 one end to enable it to be passed into the eye of the needle and bifurcated towards the other end into resiliently separated limbs and over the said pointed end of which the eye of the needle may be passed, moved along 'the'said Ymember and removed from the bifurcated end thereof, a body containing a recess in which said member is loosely encaged against removal, and which body is provided with a lateral aperture following the general form of said bifurcated member in communication with the recess in which said member is loosely encaged and containing means for guiding the needle eye over said member and from end to end of said aperture, the body being formed with a further yaperture into the recess whichfurther aperture is located adjacent and communicates with that region of the said recess which accommodates ythe bifurcated end of the resilient member and is grooved enabling the thread to be admitted into the bifurcation of said member to be gripped between the said limbs whilst the needle eye is passed thereover, and means for retaining the thread .thus passed through the needle until the latter leavesI or is about to leave the body.

2. A device according to claim l, wherein the said member is encaged in the body in a generally Grip between parts 5a and 6 may be enhanced by slight roughening of their engageable surfaces, or by providing one or more distinct teeth, fine serrations or the like on one engageable in complementary teeth or openings in the other.

Similarly the finger Il may be replaced by a correspondingly functioning small tooth or hook upstanding from the limb 5a between the portions I and 8.

The entrances to the chamber at I0 and I3 and to the slit I6 are preferably throated, and generally all edges are rounded or smoothed off for ease of manipulation of the device.

The member 4 may, if desired, be made in several portions suitably joined together; e. g. a single thickness piece of spring steel extending from the end 5 to or somewhat beyond the hairpin bend which occupies portion I2 in the-body, where bifurcation commences into portions 5a yand 6a which, or one of which, may be welded or otherwise joined to the single piece. Whether the member 4 is or is not a single piece of material it is preferred that from point 5 toV the hairpin bend or turn the material is in effect a single thickness.

hairpin bend shaped recess with portions of said limbs resiliently held together and the said pointed end exposed in the said aperture for easy acceptance into the needle eye applied thereto, the said further aperture extending into the body to a region opposite to said resiliently held portions of the bifurcated member limbs for the gripping of the thread. 1

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein the said limbs of the said member are of unequal lengths, one extending further towards the adjacent end of the first mentioned aperture than does the other land executing an S-like curve so designed as when traversed by the needle eye to release the grip of the said limbs upon the thread and facilitate its being withdrawn from the body after the needle has passed over it.

4. A device accordinglto claim 2, wherein the said limbs Vof the said member are of unequal lengths, one" extending further towards the adjacent end of the rst mentioned aperture than does the other and executing an S-like curve so designed as when .traversed by the needle eye to release the grip of the said limbs upon the thread and facilitate its being withdrawn from the body The body may, if desired, be moulded to shape *A in one of the well-known plastics, the design being adapted as may be necessary or desirable to permit such methods of production, which may, for instance, enable the above described laminar construction to be reduced to a main portion whereof part I constitutes a simple cover suitably applied and secured over a single piece combining parts 2 and 3.

I claim:

1. A device for the purpose set forth comprising a resilient wire member of a form pointed at after the needle has passed over it.

5. A device according to claim 1, comprising means for catching the loop of thread from the eye of the needle'before the latter leaves the said body, such means including hook means atan appropriate region of the body and/orV one of the limbs aforesaid beyond the region thereof into which the thread-'is admissible. l

' 6. A device according to claim 4, comprising means for catching the loopof thread from the eye of the needle before the latter leaves the said body, said means comprising hook means fixed in the body beyond the region of the vsaid limbs in the direction in which the needle traverses the said member into which the thread is admissible.

V 7 Number ALBERTUS PRETORIUS. ;V

VvReferences Cited -inthe le of this patent UNITEDV STATES- PATENTS Name Date" ,424,513` Nonnen Apr. A1, 1890 

